Paleo - But What About the Children?

I've been asked about our plans for the children's menu - are they eating Paleo, as well?

Short answer, no!

I've posted below one of the questions from Loren Cordain's excellent website, the Paleo Diet in which he explains why Paleo eating maybe isn't the best idea for children.

A few things that i think might mitigate our experience in particular is that we do tend to breastfeed for a "long time" (as our culture considers it) - weaning at 13 months at the earliest, to 45 months at the latest). We also use a baby food grinder (Happy Baby! Well worth the small price) to grind up "big people food" to feed little ones at the table as soon as they show an interest in eating (and can sit up in a high chair and are not satisfied with holding a spoon anymore...)

We also tend to give fruits and vegetables as snacks for children who need something to get them through to meals, but from what we've read, children do have a higher need for carbs (and a calorie overload) than adults do - at least until they've stopped growing. So i will continue baking bread and cooking rice for them at dinner, and i will give our dehydrated buckwheat energy bread for snacks, and granola, and other things that i am "not allowed" to eat on this diet.

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/faqs/#General

Would you recommend the paleo diet also for small children? Any concerns or modifications needed? What about pregnancy?

Little has been written about the dietary differences between adult and child hunter-gatherers. Also, very little is known about how a modern diet based upon "Paleo" food groups would influence growth and development in fully westernized children. Let me give you some key points which may be of use to you.

1. Hunter-gatherer children typically had a much longer age at weaning than what is considered normal in the western world. Studies of five hunter-gatherer societies (!Kung, Ache, Inuit, Australian Aborigines, and Hadza) reveal the average age of weaning to be 2.9 years (Eaton SB et al. Women's reproductive cancers in evolutionary context. Quart Rev Biol 1994;69:353-67.). Hence, a hunter-gatherers early nutrition (birth -- 3 years of age) is highly dependent upon mother's milk. Because hunter-gatherers typically consumed a diet higher in n-3 fatty acids than westerners, mother's milk likely would also have been higher in n-3 fatty acids than milk from the typical nursing western mother. Numerous studies show that fetal and infant cognitive development requires sufficient n-3 fatty acids during pregnancy and the suckling period. For the western mother, weaning at age 3 is impractical, but should be carried out as long as possible (say maybe 1- 1.5 years). Following weaning, I recommend that infants be given a formula that is enriched with both DHA and AA. Infants should not be given EPA in the form of fish oil because it competes with AA metabolism and can result in impaired motor development as well as growth.

2. Mother's milk contains very little iron, however infants are born with sufficient iron stores to last about 9-12 months before being depleted. In the western world, pediatricians typically recommend that infants receive their first solid foods as iron fortified cereals. An alternative is macerated meat (beef, pork, chicken) that is available in commercial baby foods. Hunter-gatherer mothers introduced first foods to their infants by thoroughly masticating meat, marrow, nuts, seeds, fruits etc in their mouth, mixing it with saliva into a bolus and then giving their child this bolus. If you do give cereal to your infant, I would only recommend rice and do not recommend either wheat or oats.

3. Virtually all pediatricians recommend that cow's milk and dairy products (yogurt, cheese etc) should be excluded from the infant's diet during the first year of life. Early exposure to milk and dairy products have been implicated with an increased risk of a number of autoimmune diseases -- particularly type 1 diabetes. I recommend that dairy products not be introduced until later -- at least until age 2.

4. Once solid foods are introduced, I recommend focusing upon the basic types of foods that I recommend for adults (fresh fruits and veggies, fresh meats and seafood). There is some evidence that the liver of growing children is less able to deal with high levels of protein (~30-40 % total energy), so fattier meats and fish should not necessarily be restricted. Omega 3 enriched eggs should be the egg of choice and are a wonderful source of DHA. Infants and young children usually have no problem with scrambled eggs. Also, fattier plant foods (nuts, avocados) and healthful oils are useful, although sometimes nut allergies present themselves.

5. I do not advocate completely restricting processed food from children because eating involves behavioral issues that transcend the pure nutritional issues. We do not live as hunter-gatherers but rather as westerners in an industrialized world, and it is important to make children aware of good and bad food choices. The best way to get your child to eat junk food is to completely restrict it. In our household, we serve typical Paleo foods (fresh fruits, veggies, lean meats and seafood) at every meal and encourage our children to eat these foods. We stock very little processed food in the house, so if your children are hungry their choices are primarily healthy nutritious foods. We do not allow unlimited access to either TV or computers or electronic games, but rather encourage our children to be active in outdoor games and play. I believe that for active children certain high glycemic load foods, particularly during growth and development, may not be harmful. We do not restrict dried fruit (raisins, dates, etc), potatoes, and encourage consumption of bananas, yams and sweet potatoes.

6. Because of metabolic changes that occur in the liver during pregnancy, women cannot tolerate as high protein levels as they normally could. This issue has been documented in both the anthropological and clinical literature. Hence fattier meats, and higher fat vegetable foods and more carbs are required.

7. A final point that is somewhat of a double edged sword. In the western world, a tall child is considered a healthy child, and tall children frequently grow into tall adults. Most societies view being tall a very positive attribute in both children and adults. However, being tall has it's downside and increases the adult risk for a number of cancers, particularly breast cancer in women. Until recently the nature of this relationship has remained obscure. Our research group believes that the relationship between stature and cancer risk involves the consumption of high glycemic load carbohydrates during childhood along with an otherwise healthy diet, high in protein. If you download this paper from the Research Articles page (Cordain L, Eades MR, Eades MD. Hyperinsulinemic diseases of civilization: more than just syndrome X. Comp Biochem Physiol Part A 2003;136:95-112), I fully explain how high glycemic load carbohydrates both increase adult height and also increase the risk for numerous chronic diseases.